Danes are more open to being naked in public than other Europeans, while the lifestyle is falling out of fashion with younger Germans
Key takeaways
- Danes are generally the most pro-public nudity, while Britons and Italians are the most opposed
- Most Europeans feel it's acceptable to be naked at a private nudist site, but are more divided when it comes to being naked in your own garden or the countryside, or going skinny dipping
- Despite Germany's 'free body culture', naturism is falling out of fashion with the younger generation there
- British and German women are the least likely to say it's acceptable for a woman to be topless at a public beach
A new YouGov survey of six western European countries (Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) reveals all about attitudes to public nudity across the continent.
Where do Europeans think it is – and is not – acceptable to be naked?
Europeans are largely agreed that it’s okay to be completely naked in dedicated nudist spots, with 84-94% in our six countries saying it’s acceptable to get your kit off at private nudist sites and 77-91% believing it’s fine to do so at open nudist beaches, though 17% of French and Italian people see the latter as unacceptable.
At the other end of the scale, there is near consensus (87-95%) that it’s wrong to be fully nude in places like public swimming pools or public parks, while significant majorities in all six countries (62-88%) feel it’s unacceptable to be naked at a public beach. Nonetheless, more than a third of Danes (35%) feel it’s acceptable to strip off even at a non-nudist beach.
In other situations, though, Europeans are less united. Nearly nine in ten Danes (87%) think it’s acceptable to be naked in your own garden, alongside 69-72% of Britons, Germans and Spaniards. It’s a smaller majority of French people (57%) who feel it’s fine to be in the buff in your garden, while less than half of Italians (46%) agree, with roughly as many (47%) seeing it as unacceptable.
By contrast, it’s the Danes who are divided (45% to 41%) when it comes to being naked in the countryside, while majorities in other countries see this as unacceptable, ranging from 58% in Germany to 78% in Britain.
Swimming naked in a natural body of water is arguably most divisive of all. While just 25% of Italians, 31% of French people and 32% of Britons see skinny dipping as permissible, Germans are evenly split on its acceptability (49% vs 47%) and nearly two thirds of Danes (64%) think it’s perfectly okay.
Have Europeans ever been naked in public?
Thinking public nudity is acceptable is one thing, actually doing it is another.
Of the seven ‘completely naked’ scenarios asked about, more than half of Danes (54%) had done at least one of them once as an adult, alongside 45% of Germans and 44% of Spaniards. There is a divide between them and our other three countries, with just 31% of French people, 25% of Britons and 22% of Italians saying they have been publicly naked at some point in their adult lives.
The popularity of different nudist activities varies between countries. Danes are particularly like to have been completely naked in their own garden or been skinny dipping, with 36-37% having done so, relative to 27-29% of Spaniards, 20-29% of Germans, 19% of French people, 13-14% of Britons and 11-12% of Italians.
But just 12% of Danes have stripped off in a dedicated naturist site, such as a nudist beach or campsite, a similar level to French people (14%) and Italians (11%), and less than the 25% of Germans and 22% of Spaniards who have done so. Only 6% of Britons say they’ve been fully nude in such a place.
However, relatively few Europeans say they regularly do any of the situations asked about: 11% of Danes, 9% of Germans and Spaniards, 8% of French people, 4% of Italians and 3% of Britons.
Would Europeans be willing to go nudist?
Regardless of whether Europeans have previously been naked in public, the pattern between countries of whether they’d be willing to bare all in future is similar. Half of Danes (50%) say they’d be open to partaking in one of the seven ‘completely naked’ scenarios asked about, alongside 42% of Germans, 38% of Spaniards, 34% of French people and 29% of Britons and Italians.
Men are consistently more willing than women to be publicly naked in all six countries, with the gender divide biggest in France, where nearly half of men (47%) are open to being publicly nude, relative to just over a fifth of women (22%).
The generational divide is less uniform between countries. In Denmark, it is the younger generations who are more open to naturism, with 57% of 18-34 year olds and 60% of 35-49 year olds willing to be publicly naked, relative to just 35% of over 65s.
However, in Germany, it appears that their famed ‘free body culture’ (FKK) is falling out of fashion. While nearly half of over 50 age groups (46-48%) say they’d be willing to be publicly naked, this is true of just 31% of 18-34 year old Germans, on a par with those that age in Britain (32%), France (33%) and Italy (35%).
Which of the nudist activities Europeans would be willing to do largely mirrors those that people in those countries have participated in. Danes, for instance, are the most likely to be willing to be naked in their own garden or go skinny dipping, while Germans are more likely than others to be open to visiting a dedicated nudist site.
Do Europeans think it’s okay for women to go topless at the beach?
While the publics in all six countries overwhelmingly see it as acceptable for a man to be topless at a beach (86-94%), whether it’s okay for women to do so divides both the countries polled and, in some cases, the men and women in those countries.
In Spain, more than eight in ten of both men (83%) and women (82%) believe it’s perfectly fine for a woman to go topless at the beach. Danes also largely see it as acceptable, though Danish women are a little less likely (78%) to feel so than Danish men (87%). Most French and Italian people are also supportive, including nearly six in ten women (57-59%) in both countries.
It’s British and, perhaps surprisingly, German women who are least likely to believe it’s acceptable for a woman to be topless at the beach, both being split between the nearly half (46-49%) who feel it’s okay and the roughly half (48-51%) who see it as unacceptable behaviour. Nevertheless, nearly seven in ten men (68-69%) in both countries are in favour of bare-breasted women at public beaches.
Despite Germany being one of the more nudist nations, just 27% of German women have been topless at a public beach at least once in their adult lives, putting them closer to British (24%), French (24%) and Italian women (21%), than their Danish (46%) or Spanish counterparts (43%).
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Photo: Getty
